The present study compares the people who live in cooperatives with the rest of the population of Zurich and shows some interesting differences. Significantly more middle-income families live in the cooperatives. Economic inequalities are lower among cooperative members and there are also fewer differences between neighbourhoods in terms of average incomes. Residents in cooperatives also have a significantly lower overall consumption of living space, which also applies to newly created apartments.

The study was commissioned jointly by Stadtentwicklung Zürich and wohnbaugenossenschaften Zürich. The authors of Fahrländer Partner Raumentwicklung relied on data from the population survey as well as on register data for their comparisons of socio-demographic and socio-economic profiles, the housing situation and the values.